Development of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Natural Rubber Composite for Vibration Isolation

Abstract

Abstract This study is based on readily available materials within the locality. The extraction of carbon fibre from periwinkle shell is to reduce the high cost of processing carbon fibre from petroleum pitch and to serve as reinforcement to the natural rubber resin. The fibre was activated using potassium hydroxide (KOH) followed by characterization through XRF, tensile test, hardness and impact test. On forming the composite, the reinforced material was calculated on percentages: 10%, 20% and 30% and added differently to 220grams of natural rubber resin. The samples were then prepared for various tests analysis based on ISO and ASTM standard,(ISO 527 for tensile test, ISO 179 for impact test and ASTM D2240 for hardness test) to determine the composite strength in comparison with the natural rubber for vibration isolation. The basis for this comparison is because natural rubber is widely used as a vibration isolator. The result shows an increased in tensile strength of the composite to 0.20 mega Pascal as against 0.09 mega Pascal of natural rubber resin, good strain rate for improved isolator life and high resistance to thermal expansion